Flash floods kill two, block roads to eastern Sudan towns

The Bandigyo-Simsim road in El Gedaref has become inaccessible on 20 September (RD)

Flash floods caused the death of two people in El Gedaref in eastern Sudan on Wednesday and blocked off the road leading to and from 27 villages.

The Bandigyo-Simsim road has become inaccessible. A resident in Bandigyo told Radio Dabanga that a pregnant woman died on the road, in Sidra area, as she attempted to travel to El Gedaref on a tractor.

A herder died in a flash flood the same day. “The water washed away the part of the Bandigyo-Simsim road at Khor Sidra a few days ago.

“27 villages, accommodating about 150,000 people have become isolated,” he said. The road interruptions are causing a shortage in food. Meanwhile, numbers of families were forced to leave flooded homes. The resident mentioned the proliferation of snakes and the deteriorating health environment.

An estimated 97,000 people (19,335 families) across the country have been affected by heavy rains and flash floods, according to reports from the government’s Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC). The floods have affected 12 states: El Gezira, Central Darfur, East Darfur, Khartoum, River Nile, North Darfur, Northern State, Sennar, South Darfur, South Kordofan, West Kordofan and White Nile, the United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) reported last week.